By Kay Tommerup
My husband Dave and I run Tommerup’s Dairy Farm in Queensland’s Kerry Valley in the Scenic Rim.
Our 200-acre property is a working dairy farm and in addition to the milk, butter and cream from our beloved Jersey cows, we also produce milk-fed heritage pork, paddock grown milk-fed veal, pasture-raised lamb, and pastured eggs.
And because we really love sharing our farm with others, we also have a growing agritourism business, offering farm stays, tours and special events. The agritourism was initially a response to the deregulation of the dairy sector in 2000, and our need to diversify our income streams. But it has become a much bigger part of life here than we initially anticipated.
Dave’s family have a long and proud history of farming in the area and we appreciate being able to share this with so many interested visitors.
Having grown up with a taste of farming life, on the semi-rural outskirts of Brisbane, it’s all I’ve ever wanted! As a girl my parents would take us out to country dances every weekend, and I kept going to these as a young adult. One night I met Dave, we really hit it off and 25 years and two kids later (hi Harry and Georgia), here I am!
Dave’s the fifth generation of his family to farm here, his great great grandfather first selected and established the farm in 1874 and the original homestead, built in 1888 is now one of our farm stay houses. Dave and I live in his grandparent’s house built in 1939 – he spent his first couple of years living in this house with his grandparents so it’s very special for him to live here with his family.
With all this history and connection to the land, it was never really a choice of where we were going to live!
And of course, I was really happy to move here and make it my home too. If ever you have visited the Scenic Rim yourself you’ll know what I mean, it’s just the most beautiful part of the world.
Maybe this is why so many of our visitors go on to adopt our farm and family as their ‘country cousins’! It’s pretty incredible to see a bunch of school kids arrive, terrified of animals, and leave completely in love with them, telling me that they’ve had the best day ever! We love seeing how quickly the kids grow these relationships with the animals.
Since Queensland’s COVID-19 restrictions eased up around June, we feel like we’ve never been busier! People are itching to get out of the city and experience life’s simple pleasures.
